UKTV Corporate Site

Creating The Conditions For Success

In a piece published in Broadcast magazine in April of 2013, UKTV Chief Executive, Darren Childs, talks about how the organisational culture of UKTV is important - and how it is paying dividends.

UKTV has just become the first broadcaster to be recognised by Best Companies, the body behind the Sunday Times - Best Companies To Work For list. Of the 40 or so awards that UKTV has won in the past five years, this one makes me particularly proud.

In UK media, the concept of 'organisational culture' is often misunderstood, but to me it is as clear as day: creating the conditions from which success may emerge. How? It's no coincidence that we're celebrating this win in the very year that we posted record results.

It is often said that innovation is an organisation's only true form of competitive advantage. Broadcasters are now competing for talent not just with each other, but with all kinds of creative and digital organisations. To survive the changes and challenges we face today, we need the best talent, and that talent will go to the places where they'll be most liberated to create and innovate.

At UKTV, we've removed the 'digital ghetto' that confined some other institutions and I have chosen not to have a chief technology officer because everyone here is in charge of their own digital future. This has made it easier to break out of conventional broadcast thinking and embrace adjacent platforms, and it's our digital brands that are now expanding our reach, as well as our linear channels.

We're focused on our 'traditional'' digital platforms, of course, but I'm just as interested in our Dave On Demand app and new websites with integrated On Demand players and social media. Digital product development doesn't happen in one specific corner of the office it happens everywhere. For us, it means offering training and development to share digital knowledge and get everybody innovating. We established the UKTV Academy to do this.

The broadcasting industry used to be old fashioned, hierarchical and process-driven, with new ideas confronted by a series of gatekeepers, all equipped with the power to say no. But in our organisation at least, that model no longer exists.

We thrive on a culture that encourages and rewards new thinking.

We've introduced an 'innovation pot' to fund new concepts. We're looking for passion and novelty, not a short-term ROI. To date, 80% of staff who've submitted ideas have received support and mentoring to bring them to life. The working environment is important. Conversation and ideas buzz around the 220 people in our open-plan, single-floor office. Our meeting rooms remind us of our channel identities: the Dave room's contents include a full suit of armour and a peacock, while the Eden room has park benches. Our big, open-plan kitchen is home to our weekly, noisy all-staff gatherings, where we openly talk to everybody about what's important.

We also give people time out to be involved in charitable activities, whether cycling to Paris for our nominated charity, Pancreatic Cancer (there are 29 of us doing that), mentoring teenagers or reading to schoolkids in Hammersmith. Across the company, everyone knows the values we stand for and staff's extraordinary efforts are always given public recognition and reward.

You might think this approach doesn't sound right for your company, but whatever you do, the key is for it to be authentic. That way, talent will stay, and for me, that is the best insurance against the creative and business challenges of the future. We may not all succeed, but in the current competitive and digital world, those who don't even try seem certain to fail.